British Airways says it will operate full Christmas schedule despite strike plan

Reuters
A British Airways flight crew watches as Prince Harry inspects members of Antigua's military as he arrives at the airport for an official visit in Antigua, November 20, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways said on Monday it planned to operate a full schedule over Christmas despite a planned strike by cabin crew. "We are making sure that this attempt to ruin Christmas for thousands of our customers fails," said Alex Cruz, BA's chief executive. "Over the weekend we have been working on detailed contingency plans to ensure that we are able to operate our normal flight programme from all our airports on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day." The announcement comes as BA holds talks at the conciliation service Acas with the Unite union in an attempt to avert the strike. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)